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Using a mobile 4G or 5G connection as the main way to connect all your devices to the internet is becoming increasingly common. For some, it’s a handy way of getting several phones, laptops, or tablets online when going out and about. For others, it can entirely replace their traditional home broadband - you don’t need a landline or physical wired connection, you don’t need to wait for an engineer visit, and there’s no installation to speak of. This can be really helpful if you need to get things set up in a hurry.

Using a mobile 4G or 5G connection as the main way to connect all your devices to the internet is becoming increasingly common. For some, it’s a handy way of getting several phones, laptops, or tablets online when going out and about. For others, it can entirely replace their traditional home broadband - you don’t need a landline or physical wired connection, you don’t need to wait for an engineer visit, and there’s no installation to speak of. This can be really helpful if you need to get things set up in a hurry.

On this page, we have two types of deals:

Mobile broadband: with these deals, you get a router (the device that connects your computers, tablets, and phones to the mobile internet) along with a data-only tariff. Some of the routers are designed to be portable - you can use them at home, but they also contain a battery so you can use it while you’re out and about. Others need to be constantly plugged in to work, which means that they’re really intended for home use only.

Data Only SIMs: Like the name suggests, these are SIM cards with a data-only tariff. You’ll need to have your own 4G/5G router to use these, or put it in a tablet with a SIM card slot. You could also put it in a phone, but you wouldn’t be able to make standard calls (you could always use apps like WhatsApp or Skype though).

The speed of your connection will depend on three key factors: your location, the network, and whether the connection is 4G or 5G. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere with a good 5G connection, you can reasonably expect to get a connection of 100-200Mbps. With 4G, you can expect a speed of 6-44Mbps, depending on the network. For context, Ofcom found the average download speed for residential broadband in the UK to be 54.2Mbps.5G availability is improving but still limited, so you should check coverage beforehand to see what you can reasonably expect:

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Important notes

We aim to compare as many tariffs in the marketplace from the UK as possible. However, we do not include every package (e.g. legacy tariffs no longer available, or tariffs only available to existing/specific customers), nor do we detail every aspect of every tariff (e.g. international out of bundle rates, on-network minutes, etc).

SIM only deals are limited to 30-day and 12-month plans, excluding shorter plans and Pay As You Go rates.

For tariffs which offer "unlimited" allowances, there may be times where traffic management or fair usage policies apply.

Additional charges for payment methods other than direct debit and for itemised/paper billing may apply.

Data only SIM cards, mobile broadband packages, and pay monthly tablets are currently not included in the comparison.

Out of bundle charges are not included in the calculation of Average Monthly Cost.

Contracts may not be available for some phone models in all colours and/or sizes, and a small number may only be available either as a pay monthly contract or a contract free handset, but not both.